Robertson: C-USA crown fits Cougars fine and Chandi

Published 6:30 am, Saturday, February 28, 2004

Not by a long shot was it Chandi Jones' best game. But, seeing as how it was probably her last game at Hofheinz Pavilion, she decided to make it typically special.

This one had been a struggle for the University of Houston's Lady Cougars. Even when they climbed back from the abyss on Friday night -- a 50-38 deficit early in the second half -- and were positioned to nail down their first conference title in the two-plus decades they've been trying, they just couldn't close the deal.

Chandi herself took a too-quick trey, bricked one of her oft-automatic glass-kissing bank shots and then committed an uncharacteristically careless turnover. After that, five of six UH free throws refused to drop.

Improbably, almost impossibly, TCU had 33 turnovers on the night with a 34th to come, yet the Frogs still had a beating heart, lurking just three points back with 35 seconds on the clock. That's when the Bay City belle calmly toed the line with her eyes on the prize. As the nation's distaff scoring champion a year ago, she had received a pretty little plaque. Now, she wanted more.

"I wanted a ring," Chandi said.

So, finally, money time. Swish. Swish. A few seconds later, swish-swish again for the amazing Miss Jones, soon to be performing and probably starring in the WNBA. With those four free throws, the Horned Frogs were road kill, and the local lasses were free-and-clear Conference USA champions.

In a more symmetrical world, Jones would have scored the last point of their splendid 24-3 (13-1 in C-USA) regular season, but the record will show instead that Kiemona Harris' freebie capped the historic 76-71 victory. What was the fourth-largest crowd to ever attend a women's game at Hofheinz -- 3,283 -- made enough noise for thrice that number as the players and coaches acted silly on the court.

Jones' quiet 26 points, assuming it's possible to have 26 quiet points, included 14-of-17 from the free-throw line. She missed 14 of her 20 field goal attempts, all four treys included. But, again, when she was most needed, she was most there. Like all big-time scorers, Chandi doesn't panic when the frost settles. She knows the points will come because they always do.

Later, UH coach Joe Curl was sitting at the interview table between Jones and Nicole Oliver. When Chandi was asked about her dicey first-half shot selection, Curl intercededand laughed.

"I'd rather Chandi take a bad shot," he said, "than have Nicole take a good shot."

Curl can say such a thing because there's obviously lots of love between him and his girls. When he speaks of his team as a family, it's not clichéd hyperbole. The Lady Cougars' chemistry had unquestionably made them stronger than the sum of their parts.

And that's why Houston may have plenty of ball ahead, starting with the C-USA's tournament in Fort Worth next week and maybe finishing with a run deep into the NCAAs. Sweet Sixteen? Elite Eight? Dare they dream of going to the Final Four? With Chandi, which rhymes with "dandy," why not?

"We won't set limits," Curl said.

UH women's basketball began its renaissance the day Jones decided to stay in the neighborhood and play under Curl, for whom her father, David, was already an assistant coach. It reached its apex -- so far, anyway -- when Sancho Lyttle, maybe a latter-day female Hakeem Olajuwon in the making, arrived last fall from the West Indies via Clarendon Junior College in the Texas Panhandle. Lyttle, who isn't, gave the Cougars an inside presence worthy of Chandi's everywhere else.

Lyttle was limited by foul trouble against TCU but still scored 14 points, pulled down seven rebounds and made three of Houston's steals -- solid numbers for 24 minutes worth of work.

Jones, for her part, never left the court when the clock was running. Good thing she could occasionally catnap on her feet out there, with no dire consequences.

When the game needed winning, she was ready to win it. That was hardly a first for her and, hopefully, it won't be a last. These have been a delightful four years with Chandi showing the Cougars the way to fulfillment, and they aren't over yet. Oliver, for one, actually spoke the words "national championship" when the team's goals for March were being bandied about.

"I came here because I love challenges," Jones said. "I thought it would be fun to help turn the program around."